Utbredt, utskjelt og uutforsket: Folkebøker i Norge og skillingsvisesøsknene deres

Sammendrag

Chapbooks (‘folkebøker’, Volksbücher) were the primary source of printed narrative material for people in Europe throughout the Early Modern period and far into the 19th Century. This article seeks to highlight the lack of research on the history of chapbooks in Norway and their influence on popular culture, literature and other art forms. The article provides the reader with a preliminary overview of references to usage and distribution of chapbooks throughout Norwegian history. As examples of the influence of chapbooks on Norwegian popular culture, the article describes and analyzes two chapbooks and the two print ballads (‘skillingsviser’) that were adapted from these chapbooks’ stories: The story and subsequent famous ballad of The Wandering Jew Ahasverus, and the ballad of Alexander, son of a knight, an adaptation of the final story of the chapbook Seven Wise Masters.